RESEARCHING THE ROZENDALS

BOOKS BY MY BEDSIDE:

Dutch Immigrant Women in the United States 1880-1920 by Suzanne M. Sinke (295 pages) (published in 2002 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Publication was funded by a grant from the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.)

Well researched with extensive notes and index, the author of this book has roots in the provinces of Friesland and Zeeland, the Netherlands. Often, when family historians set out to research their ancestors, their female ancestors are invisible, fading into their husbands. Sometimes we only have the first name of our female relative to go on; her maiden name is no longer known. What we learn about our great-great grandmothers and beyond is only what we can find out about our great-great grandfathers. Women comprise fifty percent of any equation when talking about genealogy. It truly is a shame that their lives were not as well recorded as the men’s lives.

This book covers forty years in American history when there were Dutch actively immigrating to the United States. The transition of Dutch immigrant women to American society in the United States is well researched. How difficult the struggle to adjust depended on the women’s ages at the time of their emigration. Every aspect of a Dutch woman’s life during this time in American history is covered: education, courtship, marriage, childbirth, religion, occupations within and outside the home, and the blending of customs. Being descended from a great grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Friesland, Netherlands, also added an extra dimension to my reading of the book. Highly recommended.


Netherlanders in America: A Study of Emigration and Settlement in the 19th and 20th Centuries in the United States of America by Jacob Van Hinte (originally published in Dutch in two volumes by P. Noordhoff, 1928, Groningen, The Netherlands; published in the United States in 1985 by Baker Book House Company)

Note: Jacob Van Hinte is the only Dutch scholar who maintained a life long interest in the Dutch settlement of North America. The English translation of this book began in 1978. It is a faithful reproduction of the original.

At the age of 32, Jacob Van Hinte sailed to America in 1921 on the s.s. Rotterdam, the name of the ship being the same as the one my immigrant ancestors took in the 1880s. My great great grandparents Rozendal and their families sailed on the s.s. Rotterdam I. According to information from the Holland-Amerca Line, this ship broke apart on 12 Oct 1883 and was no longer used. The S.S. Rotterdam on which Jacob Van Hinte sailed in 1921 was the s.s. Rotterdam IV. She served the Dutch Merchant fleet for 32 years. Van Hinte kept a travel diary of his experiences in the United States.

During the six weeks he was in the United States, Jacob visited Paterson, N.J. (where my second great grand uncle, Herman (or Harman) Rozendal and his wife settled and raised a family. Jacob also visited all the major Dutch colonies in the Midwest and plains states. My Rozendal great great grandparents first settled in Leavenworth, Kansas, then moved to Holland, Lancaster County, Nebraska, for a time, then Omaha, Douglass County, Nebraska, a short time in Becon, Iowa, finally settling in West Point, Cuming County, Nebraska, where they both are buried. This book also addresses Dutch settlements, big and small, all over the United States.

Jacob was able to visit with first and second generation colonists and studied primary sources. This book is truly monumental. The book is well illustrated with maps, photos, and charts. It has a wonderful index and a detailed contents section. For anyone seriously interested in the settlement of the United States by their ancestors, this book is well worth the investment. I found mine through Amazon Marketplace. I didn’t know about the book until I found it listed in “Dutch American Local History and Genealogy: Selected Titles at the Library of Congress” which was compiled by Lee V. Douglas.mentioned in a bibliography of WPA interviews done in the 1930s. An excellent work, it is 1,157 pages in length, the combined two volume edition.



Dutch American Voices: Letters from the United States, 1850-1930 edited by Herbert J. Brinks


Dutch Farmer in the Missouri Valley: The Life and Letters of Ulbe Eringa, 1866-1950
By Brian W. Beltman (284 pages) (published in 1996 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Publication was funded by a grant from the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.)

This book is so good. The reader is invited into the mind of Ulbe Eringa, an immigrant from the province of Friesland, Holland. Eringa is clearly pleased to have immigrated to the United States and he used his letters home to encourage family members to follow him. The accompanying background narrative by Brian W. Beltman also draws the reader, providing information about the land Eringa was leaving behind and his possible motives for leaving. Each chapter begins with background and factual information about the letters that follow. If necessary, maps and charts are presented along with photographs of Ulbe Eringa and his family. This is history on a personal level. Genealogy is history on a personal level and if you have ancestors from Friesland, Holland, you will enjoy this book.


FAVORITE WEB SITES:

These websites had proved very helpful in my research into the Rozendal side of my family:

www.allefriezen.nl

http://www.tresoar.nl/

www.genlias.nl

http://www.i-friesland.com/